Cobwebs

        By Doug Bateman, CWIS Coordinator (dbateman@unt.edu)

        This column covers features and resources available through the University's Campus Wide Information System (CWIS). It was formerly named "News from the CWIS/Gopher Hole." UNT's Home Page on the World Wide Web can be found at http://www.unt.edu.

        State of the Art?

        Are you keeping up with the latest technology and innovations related to the World Wide Web? If you are like me, you are most likely feeling overwhelmed with all the new buzzwords and advertising hype. I almost dread to open the weekly trade journals to which I subscribe because I know full well that I am going to be inundated with at least a dozen new products that promise to make my Web pages so exciting that no one will be able to resist their allure, not to mention the latest news in the ever-escalating war between Microsoft and Netscape and their respective allies. It's enough to make one yearn for the days of CP/M!

        Those feelings notwithstanding, here is my feeble attempt at helping you sort out the latest and greatest (or not so greatest as the case may be) tools, non-standard standards, and techno-marvels that are currently available to make your Web authoring projects easier (???) than ever to accomplish.

        Executable Content a.k.a. Interactivity

        If you are to believe the marketing types for the hot companies building Web-related software, it is no longer good enough to have meaningful content in your Web pages. Nosirree! You've got to make your pages interact with the user, with animation everywhere. To be considered successful and effective, your Web pages need to Do Something! no matter where the user clicks. It just goes to show that you still can't believe everything you read or that pops up when you click on it.

        However, beneath the surface of glimmer, gloss, and glitz of this marketing hype lie some truly innovative and functional concepts. At least they will be functional once they have matured somewhat. And unless you have been stranded on a desert isle, you can probably guess that the item leading the pack celebrating interactivity is ...

        Java

        Ordinarily I am very suspicious of anything that commands so much attention from the media, but this is one concept that I can't help but love. If you can bring yourself to ignore all the promises, criticisms, reports of security snafus, and other related journalistic hyperbole, you will find upon close examination that Java is a rather elegant, delightful, and intriguing programming language.

        I hate to burst the bubble of all of you Webaholics out there who think that all there is to Java is to download the latest variation of the Scrolling LED applet and plug it into your HTML document (yawn!), but Java was and is a marvelous computer programming language. To me, it far surpasses C++ in its capabilities and potential, and it brings to mind warm, fond memories of my Smalltalk programming days with its strong object orientation.

        I predict that, in spite of all the attention Java is getting in the press, it will be a resounding success. Unfortunately, UNT is not in a position yet to support Java applications delivered over its TCP/IP networks. The last full release of Netscape Navigator is version 2.02, and Java support is not available for all computers which can run Navigator 2.02. For more information, take a look at the release notes available at http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/.

        Some other important Java-related sites:

        • http://java.sun.com/ The Internet home of JavaSoft
        • http://www.gamelan.com/ EarthWeb's Gamelan, the Java Directory
        • http://www.jars.com/ The Java Applet Rating Service

        ActiveX

        OK. Time for a confession. I am one of those persons who loves to hate Microsoft or is it hates to love Microsoft? Actually, both are true. Darn them if they don't make some outstanding products, which makes it extremely difficult for me to justify why I am not numbered as one of their fans. If they just didn't come across as so much of a corporate bully so frequently, I probably wouldn't dislike them so much. Oh well, enough of this and on to the reason that I appeared to digress.

        Because of my feelings about Microsoft in general, I can't say that I have explored their competing technology to Java, ActiveX, very much. I have been quite content to live with Java and hope that ActiveX goes away even though it might be a much better solution (I never claimed that I was rational!) I do know that ActiveX has its roots in Microsoft's Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technology, and furthers their advocacy of their Component Object Model (COM) versus the other proposed standard, the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). It's probably best that I say little more and simply direct you to some Web sites where you can learn more about this:

        • http://www.microsoft.com/ Naturally.
        • http://www.activextra.com/ The Ultimate Web Site for the ActiveX Community

        JavaScript

        This is an embeddable scripting language that is based somewhat loosely upon the Java programming language. By embeddable I mean that it is entirely contained within an HTML document, unlike Java where applets and applications reside on a server and are downloaded to the browser before running. While a great deal simpler than Java, it is still a concept that will primarily prove itself useful to persons who enjoy programming. Unfortunately, it still has some distance to go before it can be considered stable. If you examine the release notes for the variety of versions of Netscape Navigator which support JavaScript, you'll discover a long list of bugs, problems, and assorted annoyances, even in the latest beta version of Netscape Navigator.

        Frankly, I will be using readily available alternatives that are proven to be robust, do not rely upon client-side support (i.e. limited to a Web browser that supports JavaScript), and are much more stable. If/when JavaScript has matured enough to be truly useful, then I will explore it further.

        In addition to the release notes page for Netscape Navigator and EarthWeb's Gamelan site mentioned earlier, here are some other noteworthy JavaScript Web sites:

        • http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/handbook/javascript/
        • http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/3.0/handbook/javascript/
        • http://www.netscape.com/.

          Microsoft's Internet Explorer is now in version 3.0b2 and matches Navigator almost feature for feature. Unfortunately, this release is only available for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 - am I the only one who finds this curious? Wander over to Microsoft's Web site, http://www.microsoft.com, for more information.

          Also, the Computing Center Support Services (HelpDesk) has a site, http://www-lan.unt.edu/HELPDESK/, that contains a lot of information relevant to both of these products, particularly in their use with a PPP connection available at UNT.

          HTML Editors

          Microsoft (drat!) continues to improve their Internet Assistant add-on to Word for Windows. It is an excellent tool to use if you really want to avoid ever looking at HTML tags something I do not advocate. However, nothing beats churning out Web pages than doing so within the comfortable environment of a familiar word processor, even if you do need to clean it up afterwards with Notepad. You can retrieve it at their home site noted earlier.

          The latest version of HoTMetaL Pro, 3.0, makes it even more my tool of choice when I want to be absolutely certain that I am writing correct HTML. It definitely gets in the way if you need to get something out in a hurry - in this case I don't think anything will ever beat vi - but I do not believe it can be beat for doing HTML the right way. In addition, this new version includes a much improved table editor, support for HTML 3.x and common extensions, the capability of importing both Microsoft Word and WordPerfect files, and provides support for Java applets, JavaScript, and ActiveX. Find out more about this at SoftQuad's home, http://www. softquad.com/.

          New HTML and HTTP Specifications

          Lest we forget about those things that provide the foundation for the World Wide Web, both HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) have changed. Yes, even our favorite non-standard standards are sporting new version numbers.

          Of the two, more extensive changes have taken place in HTML. It is now published as an Internet Draft Standard for HTML 3.2 no, I don't know what happened to 3.1. HTML 3.0 existed as a draft standard for the requisite six-month period, but since no one could agree on what it should specify in the end, it was allowed to expire. There was even talk at one point that there would no longer be a standard since manufacturers weren't paying much attention to the draft standards being published. In the end, representatives from the major commercial and non-profit entities interested in the Web sat down and reached an agreement (sort of) on 3.2. For details, take a look at the World Wide Web Consortium's pages at http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/MarkUp/.

          Most people do not get involved with, nor do they have a need to know much about, HTTP. But, like all things involving the Internet, there actually exists a formal specification for how Web browsers and Web servers are supposed to talk to one another. The most notable changes that have occurred in the move from version 1.0 to 1.1 are the capability for the connection between a browser and a server to remain alive for the duration of a session, and additional information that can be exchanged between the browser and the server. Most of this is of interest primarily to those of us heavily involved in computer programming related to the Web, but for all interested parties detailed information is available in another area of the WWW Consortium's site, namely http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/Protocols/.

          Closing

          Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly feel better. I think maybe I have succeeded in overloading you readers with information just like I experience most every day now. I hope that this has proven interesting and beneficial to many of you.

          ... and so it goes.

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